Triethylamine → 7-(4-Fluorophenyl)-7-(1-hydroxy-2-naphthyl)heptanoic acid

To a solution of 7-(4-bromo-1-hydroxy-2-naphthyl)-7-(4-fluorophenyl)heptanoic acid (1.70 g) in methanol (10 ml) were added 5% palladium-carbon (200 mg) and triethylamine (0.53 ml) and hydrogenation was carried out at room temperature for 1.5 hours. The catalyst was filtered off and the filtrate was distilled off at reduced pressure. The residue was extracted by addition of ethyl acetate and water. The ethyl acetate layer was washed with saturated saline and dried with anhydrous magnesium sulfate, and the solvent was distilled off under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by subjecting it to silica gel chromatography and eluting with ethyl acetate/hexane (1:2) to obtain 7-(4-fluorophenyl)-7-(1-hydroxy-2-naphthyl)heptanoic acid (930 mg) (Compound B-3). The physical properties and NMR spectrum data thereof are shown in Table 2.